Marlborough
Marlborough at the top of New Zealand's South Island is the world's defining cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc region. Long sunshine hours, cold nights, and free-draining stony soils on the Wairau plains produce the explosive passionfruit-grapefruit-jalapeño aromatics that announced New Zealand to the global market. Pinot Noir on hillside sites is the secondary category, with serious quality emerging since 2000.
Signature grapes
Defining styles
Famous appellations
- Wairau Valley
- Awatere Valley
History
Montana Wines (now Brancott Estate) planted the first commercial vines in 1973. Cloudy Bay's 1985 vintage became an international phenomenon and template; demand outpaced supply for years. Marlborough now accounts for roughly two-thirds of New Zealand's wine production. The Awatere Valley to the south offers a slightly cooler, more herbaceous Sauvignon style than the riper Wairau.